NSLocalizedString only retrieves the key, not the value in Localizable.strings (IOS)

Question

I've made a strings file named "Localizable.strings" and added two languages to it, like so:

"CONNECTIONERROR" = "Check that you have a working internet connection.";
"CONNECTIONERRORTITLE" = "Network error";

I have also converted the files to Unicode UTF-8 However, when I create a UIAlertView like this:

 UIAlertView *myAlert = [[UIAlertView alloc]
 initWithTitle:NSLocalizedString(@"CONNECTIONERRORITLE",nil)
 message:NSLocalizedString(@"CONNECTIONERROR",nil)                    
 delegate:self
 cancelButtonTitle:@"Ok"
 otherButtonTitles:nil];

the alert view only shows the key text, not the value. It works if I, for example, set a UITextviews text to NSLocalizedString(@"CONNECTIONERROR",nil), but the alert view only displays the key. Anyone know what's wrong?

Solution 1

Tested the app on an actual device and it worked

Solution 2

In my case it was because I had mistakenly named the file "Localization.strings" and hadn't noticed (it has to be named Localizable.strings). As explained previously the symptom is because the compiler cannot find the string. Otherwise the cause could be any number of things but usually it's a missing semi colon or quotation mark. These are hard to find when you're doing a lot of localizations at once. The lesson learned is to start building your localization file early on in your development process and build it as you go, so that they are easier to spot.

Solution 3

Same problem, solved using the filename: Localizable.strings

Solution 4

Change your .strings file name to Localizable.strings, it worked for me.

Solution 5

Double check that the Localizable.strings file is being added to

Targets -> BuildPhases -> Copy Bundle Resources

It hadn't been added automatically for me.

Edit 2021: with XCode 12 the Localizable.strings have to be added to

Targets -> Build Phases -> Compile resources

View more solutions

Comments

[Costique]

NSLocalizedString() returns the key if it fails to find the key/value pair.

[Smiden]

Sorry, I didn't copy/paste the code so it was a type-o. The code in my app however, is correct.

[Smiden]

Found the problem. It doesn't work for me in the iPhone simulator so I tested it on an actual device and it worked.

[Admin]

Check out this How to Answer[1], it may help. [1]: stackoverflow.com/a/8972349

[clocksmith]

Don't be afraid to use underscores or spaces in the key.

[Coder_A_D]

I am also facing this issue. checked the all the files in Project Navigator. Localizable.strings file is added twice. so I removed one file, and Localize that file for Base(English), and other one Spanish.

[TPG]

I still not able to make it work. UIAlertView *alert = [[UIAlertView alloc] initWithTitle:NSLocalizedString(@"WARNING", nil) message:NSLocalizedString(@"LOGIN_NRIC_REQUIRED", nil) delegate:self cancelButtonTitle:@"OK" otherButtonTitles:nil]; is not working got LOGIN_NRIC_REQUIRED. Any idea?

[mark]

Another problem is that the Localizable.strings file doesn't get cleaned out and re-initialized properly; if you were testing on the device before and then created or significantly altered your Localizable.strings files the changes aren't always noticed, so you have to CLEAN your build AND delete the copy from the device before the changes propagate properly.

[Tom]

Thanks, this comment helped me a lot!

[cprcrack]

Uninstalling the app from the simulator worked for me.

[Nova]

You are savior. This was the problem in my case.

[Nico S.]

Lol, that helped. Thanks

[He Yifei 何一非]

note that the filename is case sensitivity. So you have to use ".strings" instead of ".Strings"

[ViruMax]

This is also a great way to find errors in Localizable.strings file.

[Alex]

Thanks, this saved my day

[Martin]

The file should be name Localizable.string, with a upper L, without a s... Convention over configuration... I hate this paradigm.

[KingWu]

Thanks. save my life

[Nermin Sehic]

Localizable.strings in my case as well. Spent good two hours trying to find what was causing the problem.

[Sharad Chauhan]

Changing name, cleaning and deleting app worked for me.

[Walt Sellers]

I find that deleting the app from the Build Products folder on the Mac is enough make Xcode use all the latest files.

[Walt Sellers]

We recently changed the names of enums to start with lowercase during a transition to newer Swift. But we forgot that we derive some long string keys from the enum names. The names no longer matched. The one different character was well into the middle so it was hard to notice. I was checking the string match by using Xcode's 'find' feature. Since that was case-insensitive, it found the keys and I assumed they matched. Your answer here made me double-check and find the error. Thanks. (Now our default value will change so we notice immediately in debug builds.)

[Devil]

yes , it is happened to me i check and resolve this ... thank you for help .

[Larry Ricker]

It appears to me that neither \u2028 nor \n work with localization. I gave you a +1 anyway for acknowledging the defects in localization which has not really been stable since xCode 9.2.

[Sagar Daundkar]

Thanks a lot, saved lots of time to figure out the issue.

[dzensik]

Thanks. In my case it was one Plus char "+" before one of the keys in the Localizable.string file that was added by me while the merging process accidentally

[Daniel]

It worked for me after removing it from Copy Bundle Resources and adding it back in.

[Christophe]

Great! Very helpful! I updated the answer since the menus have slightly changed since the original answer, and I think this can still help a lot of people.

[Andy Weinstein]

I had a single backquote at the end of a line after a semicolon - one of these: ` , basically just looks like a fleck of dust on the screen. In terms of finding it - also possible to use binary search - first, I put a string definition for a string used in the main screen at line one of the file, then at the halfway point, then continue to split the remaining distance in half depending on whether the string comes out correctly or just as the key.